In the context of cybersecurity, security information and event management (SIEM) is a type of software that gathers and analyzes all data from a source so it can detect and address potential security threats. SIEM helps you collect, organize, and analyze all the logs generated by your company’s security devices and software.
As cyberattacks continue to grow, SIEM systems become ever more necessary. In this guide, we’ll discuss how SIEM works in cybersecurity, its benefits, limitations, and best practices. We'll also share the top three SIEM tools.
Key Takeaways
- SIEM systems are a must if you want to keep your business safe from cyberattacks and data breaches.
- Some of the benefits of SIEM include helping you identify patterns related to malicious activity and alerting you when these are detected
- The best practices in implementing SIEM are defining your cybersecurity goals, assigning cybersecurity roles and responsibilities to team members, and keeping your software regularly updated.
- SIEM can manage logs from network devices, predict future cyberattacks, respond to security events as they occur, secure endpoints, and encrypt sensitive information, among others.
- Aside from SIEM cybersecurity measures, consider implementing firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems.
Table of Contents
How Does SIEM Work?
SIEM systems collect data from a wide range of sources, making them a helpful tool for monitoring and improving your company’s cybersecurity. But how do they work? Here are four ways:
1. Data Gathering
SIEM systems can tap into a range of sources to obtain data for analysis, whether small-scale end users, large-capacity servers, or even something as complex as cloud services. Only relevant events and their associated information are passed on for centralized storage.
2. Data Storage
Next-generation SIEMs have revolutionized security log storage and management by leveraging advanced data lake technology. By moving away from traditional and expensive in-house hardware, companies can achieve virtually unlimited scalability while keeping costs low. This allows for a comprehensive analysis of logs across multiple systems without any loss or deterioration of quality.
3. Policies
SIEMs have become powerful tools for security teams. By utilizing machine learning and behavioral profiling, they allow staff to set profiles that define normal behavior for enterprise systems and establish rules on flagging anomalous activities as potential security incidents. This helps protect infrastructure against malicious events before they can cause damage.
4. Data Consolidation and Correlation
A SIEM is a highly effective tool that allows organizations to compile and analyze data across all their systems. By connecting seemingly disparate logs, events, connections, and attempts to access meaningful security information, potential risks or dangerous threats can be quickly identified.
With careful monitoring via dashboards and notifications, analysts are better equipped with actionable intelligence to protect valuable assets.
Implementing SIEM Cybersecurity: 5 Best Practices
If you want to use SIEM in your cybersecurity efforts, here are five best practices:
- Define your cybersecurity goals
- Don’t rely solely on SIEM
- Assign roles and responsibilities
- Understand the SIEM product
- Keep your system updated
1. Define Your Cybersecurity Goals
Before selecting and implementing the right SIEM solution for your organization, you must first define your cybersecurity goals. Setting goals helps you stay on track and identify potential issues that could go unnoticed.
Your goals should be SMART: Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Cybersecurity goals can include creating more secure access points, attaining a good brand perception through providing your customers with high levels of security, etc.
2. Don’t Rely Solely on SIEM
While it’s helpful to implement a SIEM, it’s not a catch-all solution for all of your cybersecurity issues. A SIEM can help you spot problems and monitor your progress, but it’s not a silver bullet. Consider using it with other safety solutions such as firewalls, endpoint protection systems, or intrusion detection software.
Also, don't forget that threats can also come internally — something SIEM systems can’t help with. Adding additional security barriers that will protect you not only from outside threats but from inside as well is key to keeping a healthy business. For example, implementing user activity monitoring so you can act quickly if there’s suspicious activity from employees.
3. Assign Roles and Responsibilities
One of the critical things you can do when implementing a SIEM is to decide the role each department in your business plays. This will help you avoid common pitfalls and guarantee everyone is on the same page regarding cybersecurity issues.
Here are some of the roles you may need:
- Identify who will be responsible for managing the system's data inputs, the access privileges, and the queries it produces.
- Assign a lead analyst responsible for investigating incidents and training others.
- Make sure there are people assigned as auditors or spot-checkers for security alerts generated by your SIEM system.
- Finally, find someone who will handle requests from external stakeholders.
4. Understand the SIEM Product
Before choosing a SIEM product, you should spend time reviewing the features and cybersecurity benefits of each option. Look for products that provide everything you need and are easy to use.
In general, SIEM cybersecurity tools should have at least two of the following features:
- Collects data from several sources (cloud, databases, app logs, etc.) and analyzes it
- Offers flat-rate pricing, so if you need more logging space you don’t pay double the price
- Advanced features such as threat intelligence integration, asset ownership tracking, connecting personal emails to employees, user authentication, etc.
- Automatically tracks lateral movement to prevent cyber attacks
- User-friendly UI that can present all relevant data from one panel
- A specific attack targeting so it doesn’t intervene with day-to-day tasks
- TDIR workflow automation
5. Keep Your System Updated
Keep your SIEM system updated with the latest software patches and versions to ensure your system is secure. Updating your SIEM in cybersecurity lets you stay on top of any potential threats to your online data. It alerts you to any suspicious activities in real time so you can promptly address them before they escalate.
How do you know that your SIEM cybersecurity system needs updating?
Besides receiving a notification from the tool, here are several other signs that indicate an update is necessary:
- It’s slow and deploys tasks with more difficulty than before
- It’s limited in detecting threats, analyzing them, and addressing the problems
- The analytics it provides have little value
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Capabilities
So, what can SIEM do? These are a few of its capabilities:
- Log Management: Collecting, organizing, and analyzing logs from your network devices to identify potential threats and improve your cybersecurity posture.
- Threat Intelligence: Collecting data about known cyberthreats to predict future attacks, avoid potential pitfalls, and inform your security decisions.
- Asset Management: Identifies your system's hardware, software, and network resources, which will help you accurately assess the risk associated with each resource in the event of a breach.
- Response: Preparing for and responding to security events as they occur, which may include notifying the appropriate employees and initiating a response plan.
- Compliance: Identifying regulatory requirements that your business is subject to, to help you determine gaps in your cybersecurity posture and implement measures to correct them.
- User Behavior Analysis: Monitoring user activities to identify malicious actions and fraudulent attempts.
- Endpoint Protection: Securing endpoints, such as laptops, desktops, and mobile devices, against malware and other threats.
- Encryption: Converting sensitive information into unreadable code to protect it from unauthorized users.
Benefits of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
If you want to keep your business safe from cyberattacks and data breaches, it’s crucial to have a SIEM strategy in place.
Here are other reasons why you need to implement SIEM:
- SIEM helps you identify patterns related to malicious activities and provides a comprehensive view of your network.
- The system provides alerts when unusual activities are detected. It helps companies prevent security breaches and respond more quickly.
- It can receive information from host-based security tools, web application monitoring systems, and user-identity management software.
- SIEM can improve your compliance posture by providing visibility into all activities across your IT systems.
- It can help you better use your existing security investments by integrating with other security tools and systems.
- It can improve the efficiency of your security operations by automating many tasks such as log management, event correlation, and incident response.
Top SIEM Cybersecurity Tools
Let’s take a look at the top SIEM cybersecurity tools in the market:
1. IBM QRadar
IBM QRadar is one of the most popular SIEM cybersecurity tools today. Developed by IBM Security, it's a powerful tool for analyzing logs from multiple sources, including servers, workstations, firewalls, and network appliances.
Large enterprises use IBM QRadar for security analytics, performance management, and capacity planning for thousands of endpoints. Additionally, it offers features that make it stand out from competitors, such as its network forensics tools. This helps investigate threats on your network by analyzing network traffic logs in real time and identifying unusual behavior patterns that could indicate a breach has occurred.
2. Splunk
Splunk offers log management software that IT professionals can use to monitor their systems remotely without installing software on those machines. Its pricing is based on the number of users who need access to its features, but there's no upfront cost for evaluation purposes.
Splunk is ideal for businesses needing a log management solution to monitor many systems and analyze their data without hiring a developer.
3. LogRhythm
LogRhythm allows companies to capture, store, analyze, and report security events in real time. It helps companies quickly identify threats and respond faster. Not only does it provide alerts when something goes wrong, but it also gives businesses insight into how their networks perform over time to identify potential issues before they become problems or attacks.
LogRhythm is ideal for smaller enterprises because it's easy to set up and use and doesn't require much IT knowledge. It's an excellent option for companies who want something simple yet effective. It has an intuitive interface that makes it easy for anyone on the team to use it immediately.
Limitations of SIEM Applications
SIEM tools are designed to collect and analyze data generated by your company’s network devices and security software. However, they cannot protect against cyberattacks such as smishing. SIEM tools are developed to help you respond to attacks, collect data about potential issues, and take preventative measures to improve your security posture.
Additionally, SIEM tools can be expensive, both in terms of initial investment and ongoing maintenance and support. However, if you're looking for the best way to safeguard your data from insider threats or malware attacks, combining a SIEM with other cybersecurity solutions is the way to go.
Cybersecurity SIEM Takeaways
SIEM is a valuable technology that every cybersecurity professional should consider to protect their business. The right tools and setup can provide essential information about your organization's security status and make informed decisions when disaster strikes.
Like most cybersecurity tools and cybersecurity consultants, there is no single solution. Just as every business's needs vary, so will its SIEM setup. Aside from SIEM cybersecurity measures, consider implementing other modes of protection against potential threats, like firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems.
